Tucker Cipriano, Mitchell Young sentenced in baseball bat murder

Jul. 24, 2013

Tucker Cipriano pleaded no contest to felony murder June 17 at the Oakland County Courthouse in Pontiac. He will be sentenced to life in prison without parole on Wednesday. / Brian Kaufman/Detroit Free Press

Tucker Cipriano, appearing near tears, addressed his deceased father just before being sentenced today to life in prison.

"Dad a lot of people miss you down here," Cipriano, 20, said. "I love you, and I hope, for what it's worth, I did what you would have wanted me to do ... take responsibility."

Oakland County Circuit Judge Shalina Kumar told Cipriano he ruined his own life and the lives of those around him before she ordered him to serve the rest of his life in prison.

Mitchell Young, 21, will be sentenced next for the baseball bat beating death of Robert Cipriano.

Cipriano pleaded no contest to the charge, and a jury took just 90 minutes to convict Young last month.

Investigators said that the pair plotted to kill the entire Cipriano family when they broke into the Farmington Hills home on April 16, 2012, wielding aluminum baseball bats. The pair were seeking money to buy drugs, police said.

Robert Cipriano died in the attacks, while his wife, Rose, and his son, Salvatore, were severely injured. Another son, Tanner, and a daughter, Isabella, escaped harm.

Sentencing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

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